Inner City is an American electronic music group that formed in Detroit, Michigan, in 1987. The group was originally composed of the record producer and composer Kevin Saunderson (born September 5, 1964) and the Chicago, Illinois, vocalist Paris Grey (born November 5, 1965). Saunderson is renowned as one of the Belleville Three—along with Juan Atkins and Derrick May—high school friends who later originated the Detroit techno sound. In February 2018, Billboard magazine ranked them as the 69th most successful dance artists of all-time.[1]
Inner City | |
|---|---|
| Origin | Detroit, Michigan, United States |
| Genres | |
| Years active | 1987–present |
| Labels | KMS |
| Members |
|
| Past members |
|
Musical career
editInner City topped the US Billboard dance chart five times,[2] and had nine top 40 hits on the UK Singles Chart. The group is best known for its early dancefloor-pop music crossover tracks "Big Fun" (UK #8, US Dance #1[2]) and "Good Life" (UK #4, US Dance #1[2]). Other hits include "Do You Love What You Feel" (UK #16, US Dance #1[2]) and "Whatcha Gonna Do with My Lovin'" (UK #12, US Dance #8[2]). The music videos to these songs received significant airplay throughout the world. Later work introduced a hybrid of techno, jazz and swing beats with a more soulful sound in the vein of downtempo British groups such as Soul II Soul and Massive Attack. The group recorded three albums for Virgin/EMI Records and two singles for Columbia/SME Records.
In the early nineties, Tommy Onyx was brought on to be the band leader for Inner City live shows.[3] Onyx co wrote the hits “Hallelujah”, “Fire” & “Bad Girl” and produced the Spanish language version of Good Life, “Buena Vida”.
In 2017, a new incarnation of the group was formed with Kevin Saunderson's youngest son Dantiez joining as a permanent fixture.[4] Dantiez and Kevin’s first single as Inner City, “Good Luck”, was released April 14, 2017 on KMS.[5] “Good Luck” features vocals from LaRae Starr and includes remixes from DEAS, Sure Is Pure and Chuck Daniels. In 2018, Steffanie Christi’an was added as vocalist.
In 2020, the Saundersons (Kevin and his son Dantiez) released a new Inner City album with Christi'an as the main vocalist. Called We All Move Together, the title track which featured a spoken word performance from actor Idris Elba. Elba also featured on the single "No More Looking Back", which was the first Inner City project to be released by Defected Records, a British independent record label specialising in house music.[6]
Discography
editAlbums
edit| Year | Album | Peak chart positions | Certifications (sales thresholds) | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK [7] |
US [8] |
AUS [9] |
GER [10] |
NED [11] |
NZ [12] |
SUI [13] |
CAD [14] | |||
| 1989 | Paradise / Big Fun [A] | 3 | 162 | 38 | 21 | 74 | 29 | 18 | 55 | |
| 1990 | Paradise Remixed | 17 | — | 119 | — | — | — | — | — | |
| 1990 | Fire | — | — | 166 | — | — | — | — | — | |
| 1992 | Praise | 52 | — | 135 | — | — | — | — | — | |
| 1993 | Testament ’93 | 33 | — | 166 | — | — | — | — | — | |
| 2003 | Good Life—the Best of Inner City | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| 2020 | We All Move Together | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| "—" denotes releases that were not released in that country or did not chart. | ||||||||||
- A Album was released as Big Fun in North America.
Singles
edit| Year | Single | Peak chart positions | Certifications (sales thresholds) |
Album | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK [7] |
US [16] |
US Dance [2] |
AUS [9] |
AUT [17] |
GER [10] |
IRE [18] |
NED [11] |
NZ [12] |
SUI [13] | ||||
| 1988 | "Big Fun" | 8 | — | 1 | 57 | 15 | 5 | 5 | 3 | — | 4 | Paradise | |
| "Good Life" | 4 | 73 | 1 | 52 | 12 | 2 | 6 | 6 | 8 | 5 | |||
| 1989 | "Ain't Nobody Better" | 10 | — | 1 | 67 | — | 21 | 24 | 26 | 40 | 9 | ||
| "Do You Love What You Feel" | 16 | — | 1 | 76 | — | — | 22 | — | — | — | |||
| "Whatcha Gonna Do with My Lovin'" | 12 | 76 | 8 | 86 | — | — | 24 | 12 | — | — | Big Fun | ||
| 1990 | "That Man (He's All Mine)" | 42 | — | 15 | 143 | — | — | — | — | — | — | Fire | |
| 1991 | "Till We Meet Again" | 47 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "Let It Reign" | 51 | — | — | — | — | — | — | 40 | — | — | Praise | ||
| 1992 | "Hallelujah '92" | 22 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "Pennies from Heaven" | 24 | — | 1 | 122 | — | — | — | 51 | — | — | |||
| "Praise" | 59 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| "Follow Your Heart" | — | — | 2 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| 1993 | "Till We Meet Again" (remix) | 55 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Non-album singles | |
| "Back Together Again" | 49 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| 1994 | "Do Ya" | 44 | — | 5 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "Share My Life" | 62 | — | 24 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| 1995 | "Ahnonghay" | 97 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1996 | "Your Love" | 28 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "Do Me Right" | 47 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| 1999 | "Good Life (Buena Vida)" (PIAS re-recording) | 10 | — | — | — | — | — | — | 73 | 48 | — | ||
| 2001 | "Good Love" | 81 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "Pump It Up Dub" (with E-Dancer) | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| 2003 | "Big Fun" (remix) | 86 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2004 | "Say Something" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2011 | "Future" (as Kevin Saunderson featuring Inner City) | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2014 | "Bad Girl" (as Kevin Saunderson featuring Inner City) | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2017 | "Good Luck" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2019 | "It Could Be" (with Armin van Buuren) | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Balance | |
| "—" denotes releases that were not released in that country or did not chart. | |||||||||||||
Articles, Interviews & Reviews
edit- "Inner City — We All Move Together", Ben Cardew, Medium, Sep 9, 2020
- "Kevin Saunderson: “Black people don’t even know that techno came from Black artists”Jaguar talks to Kevin Saunderson and Idris Elba about their Inner City collaboration, the roots of techno and the future of dance music" jaguea, Mixmag, 22 October 2020
- "How we made Good Life: Paris Grey and Kevin Saunderson on Inner City's house classic" interview by Interviews by Dave Simpson, The Guardian, Tue 6 Aug 2019
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ "Greatest of All Time Top Dance Club Artists". Billboard. Retrieved 2018-02-04.
- ^ a b c d e f "Billboard > Inner City Chart History > Dance Club Songs". Billboard. Retrieved 2020-04-16.
- ^ Echlin, Hobey. "Pitch'd". Detroit Metro Times. Retrieved 2017-11-23.
- ^ "Inner City Feat. LaRae Starr - Good Luck". Discogs. Retrieved 2017-11-23.
- ^ "Dance phenomenon Inner City resurfaces with slice of old-school House: 'Good Luck' (feat. Larae Starr) | Armada Music - Home to the music you love". Armada Music - Home to the music you love. Retrieved 2017-11-23.
- ^ "Idris Elba & Inner City Join Forces for Defected Debut".
- ^ a b "UK Charts > Inner City". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 2020-03-28.
- ^ "Billboard > Inner City Chart History > Billboard 200". Billboard. Retrieved 2020-04-16.
- ^ a b Australian (ARIA) peaks:
- Top 50 peaks: "australian-charts.com > Inner City in Australian Charts". Hung Medien. Retrieved 2016-01-15.
- "Big Fun", "Good Life", "Ain't Nobody Better" and "Do You Love What You Feel": "Response from ARIA re: chart inquiry, received 17 January 2014". Imgur.com. Archived from the original on 2014-11-29. Retrieved 2016-01-15.
- Top 100 peaks from January 1990 to December 2010: Ryan, Gavin (2011). Australia's Music Charts 1988–2010 (PDF ed.). Mt. Martha, VIC, Australia: Moonlight Publishing. p. 137.
- "That Man (He's All Mine)" and "Pennies From Heaven": "Response from ARIA re: chart inquiry, received 5 June 2015". Imgur.com. Archived from the original on 2015-06-05. Retrieved 2016-01-15.
- Fire and Praise: "Response from ARIA re: chart inquiry, received 13 September 2016". Imgur.com. Retrieved 2016-09-22.
- All ARIA chart peaks to 18 July 2018: "Response from ARIA re: Inner City chart history, received 18 July 2018". Imgur.com. Retrieved 2018-07-18. N.B. The High Point number in the NAT column represents the release's peak position on the national chart.
- ^ a b "Offizielle Deutsche Charts > Suchen nach: Inner City" (in German). GfK Entertainment. Retrieved 2020-04-16. N.B. Select the Album tab to display albums chart peaks.
- ^ a b "dutchcharts.nl > Inner City in Dutch Charts" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 2020-04-16.
- ^ a b "charts.nz > Inner City in New Zealand Charts". Hung Medien. Retrieved 2016-01-15.
- ^ a b "hitparade.ch > Inner City in der Schweizer Hitparade" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved 2016-01-15.
- ^ "RPM > RPM (magazine)". RPM. Retrieved 2021-07-10.
- ^ a b "British Phonographic Industry > Certified Awards > Search results for Inner City (from bpi.co.uk)". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 2016-01-15 – via Imgur.com.
- ^ "Billboard > Inner City Chart History > Hot 100". Billboard. Retrieved 2020-04-16.
- ^ "austriancharts.at > Inner City in der Österreichischen Hitparade" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved 2020-04-16.
- ^ "The Irish Charts - All there is to know > Search results for Inner City (from irishcharts.ie)". Fireball Media. Retrieved 2016-01-15 – via Imgur.com.
